as thick as cement

This is from the beloved marta writes. It is another example of why I adore her - because her words really reach out and speak to me. (I like the line below about not knowing - in her childhood days - what it would feel like to be madly in love) Reading this just now made me think of us, The YTS, the memories, the sisterhood, our bond that is thicker than cement. We could fill in our own words - E, if you feel so inclined. I absolutely love marta because she is one of us, though she doesn't know it! Let's get going on that Valentine!
Love to all,
M.
p.s. I feel like a blog hog! Someone else post, pretty please! Or else I'll write more about how much I adore us! (There are worse things, I suppose).

"your childhood friends somehow cement in your mind the time you two were sitting under the slide, hanging on the monkey bars, or chatting on the curb at recess. i can always remember my chalky hands after playing in the gravel outside. she and i grew up together and i have memories of being twelve at girls camp or going to the mall at fifteen, slumber parties and painting our nails, and jumping up and down once we found out we both made it in the musical Grease in high school. all these things are cemented in my life. but for whatever reason, allison at age nine is what sticks.

"back then life was so simple and we didn't even realize it. we didn't know time would fly so fast. we did not know that circumstances could someday pull us apart. we couldn't picture how else to spend a saturday other than walking to Arctic Circle for a corndog, playing barbies and making up dances in spandex. we didn't know what it feels like to grow up and be grown ups. we didn't know that our secret code names wouldn't last forever. or that we would forget our important handshake. we didn't know that fifth grade really wasn't that hard and mrs. roberts wasn't that terrible. we didn't even realize that thirty wasn't that old. we didn't know what things were to come. we didn't know that people close to us could pass away. we didn't know how that felt yet. we didn't know what it meant to be so devastated that all you can feel is helpless. and all you can do is hug. we didn't know how it felt to be hurt or sad or madly in love. we didn't know how important our memories would be. we didn't realize how important our friendship would be either. we were just two girls playing. every day, at one house or the other.

"i told dan when we drove home from her house on sunday evening that i will always and forever be tied to her, no matter what. because of the things we've been through together. because i've seen her grow up and i know we know each other so well. what would life be without friendships as thick as cement?

"she is another of my beloved paperdolls that i cling to."